


The Dragon and I

by MilyV



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Dragontalia, Fantasy, M/M, Nudity, Parody, dragon!finland, dragon!norway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-15 01:43:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 17,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11795823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilyV/pseuds/MilyV
Summary: When Magnus and Berwald entered that cave, they could never know that they were about entered the adventure of their lifetime!





	1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time, humans and dragons lived in perfect harmony. Nobody was sure where the dragons came from. Some people said that they were gifts from the gods themselves. Others said the creatures already existed when mankind appeared.

People gave the dragons gifts every once in a while so they could keep protecting them from the evil spirits and for some time, that deal actually worked.

On that specific location, there were four dragons. Two big ones and two of a smaller size. While some of them were kinder to people than others, it was certain that they didn’t mind in helping when people were struggling.

The big red dragon with shiny scales lived in the south. A smaller blue one was his partner. He often appeared in front of the people, every time when someone called his name. His partner had his doubts about it. He was afraid that the red dragon would get in trouble. While he didn’t hate humans, he didn’t trust them either.

But the red dragon always tried to make it seem it wasn’t a big deal and that was his big mistake.

On the north, a golden dragon ruled the mountains with a light blue one. While he wasn’t as friendlier like the red one, he didn’t deny anyone his help.

Legends told that they also brought fertility and abundance to the lands, so people were happy to honor them. Huge festivals were made in the name of the dragons and more often than not, they made they show up as appreciation.

But one day, a dark wizard appeared. With his magic, he managed to convince to young leaders that if they killed the major dragons, they would become kings and everyone would love them.

So armies were formed and the harmony was broken. And the dragons didn’t see it coming.

The red and the golden one were made prisoners by the dark wizard.  They didn’t even intent to escape because they thought that it was a big misunderstanding.

The smaller ones only escaped by miracle. The blue one wanted to rescue the red dragon badly but the light blue knew it was only going to make things worse.

Humans wouldn’t dare to kill a dragon, right? But the light blue made a big mistake.

The big dragons tried to negotiate their way out. What humans could possibly want from them? They have never killed anyone or damaged any properties at all. Most of the time they only minded their own business and only in very special occasions they actually got out from their caves.

But the dark wizard didn’t care at all. He wanted to kill the dragons so he could use their blood and scales.

Neither of the big dragons wanted to fight the humans. They knew that they could kill them all and escape. But was it really worth it?

The red one asked then if at least they could spare the life of the smaller dragons. Since they were huge, they wouldn’t need the blood from the other ones.

The golden one stared at the sky while being imprisoned. He couldn’t move his wings or his legs at all. He was hoping that his partner went as far as possible. Then he put his attention towards the dark wizard.

“If you kill us, you are going to bring devastation to these lands” The golden dragon warned the men.

But neither the wizard nor the men didn’t really care. They wanted to hold the titles of “killer of dragons” so they could reclaim the throne.

The only weapon that could get through the skin of a dragon was a rare metal that was only found on a mine in the north of the kingdom. So the dark wizard decided that the best way to combat a beast of fire was… With fire itself.

The blue dragon wanted to intervene but the red one shook his head. They were already sentence to death and he didn’t want his partner to suffer the same destiny.

“Promise you’ll wait” The red dragon requested to his partner “And you won’t kill anyone. This isn’t their fault after all” The creature explained to the other one with sadness.

“I’ll wait for eternity if that’s needed” The blue one responded before flying away.

The light blue dragon refused to say good-bye. He wanted to kill everyone there, but the golden one was trying to comfort him.

“Don’t do anything stupid. I shall return to your side” The golden creature said with certainty.

When the fire was really near them, they decided that the least they could do was dying with honor and dignity. The animals roared and wiped their tails until they were bleeding. The sound that they made was so horrific that most people that watched them died thought that they were going nuts.  

The smaller dragons watched the way that their partners were fighting until they stopped moving. Both of them started a disaster and burned every single crop and town that were in there way as payment for that.

And like the golden dragon promised, the devastation came soon to the kingdom. The reign splat in two and remained in war for over a century. Their leaders were killed in combat and nobody knew what happened to the dark wizard.

Over the curse of time, some villagers said that they could hear a sad moaning coming from the mountains. So sad that they could shrink the heart of anyone who came close to it.

The remaining dragons stopped protecting the humans and people just forgot about them. And that’s how the legend was made.

But the blue and light blue dragons had a big hope. That someday, in somewhere, their partners were going to reborn and come back to them.


	2. Chapter 2

Magnus realized about his mistake too late.

“I told you” Berwald reprehended him.

“Well, now it’s too late, don’t you think?!” Magnus defended himself.

“You could think in a way to get both of our asses off this place” Berwald recommended.

It was a stupid situation and a very dangerous one.

In front of them, there was a big blue dragon that wasn’t really having it. Maybe hundreds of years dealing with stupid humans made him like that or maybe he was just grumpy. Whatever the case was, the dragon was pissed off.

“Hey, it’s not my fault that the damn dragon actually exists!” Magnus exclaimed.

Magnus and Berwald were two friends that loved to explore myths. Sometimes they would get a lot of money if they find a way to prove or dismantle said myth. But they have never thought that a dragon could be there, lying in a mountain.

The Dragon was losing its patience. That human with the pointy hair was getting on his nerves.

“So what do we do know?” Berwald thought that the whole thing was just a damn invention of the damn town. But no. There was a dragon sleeping on a cave. Well, now it wasn’t sleeping at all.

Magnus proceeded then to try to make a deal with it.

“Hey, Mister Dragon. If you let us go, we won’t tell anyone about your existence” Magnus thought that the only way to get out of there was negotiating. Or killing that dragon, but they didn’t have a chance.

“So you come here to wake me up and then you want me to not punish you because of that” His roaring could be heard from a long distance.

“Yes, basically” Magnus shrugged.

“What do I get in exchange?” The dragon asked.

“You can eat my friend!” Magnus was so nervous that he just went with the first thing that came to his mind.

“What?! This is your fault, he should eat you instead” Berwald couldn’t believe that Magnus would throw him under the bus just like that.

The dragon rolled his eyes.

“I don’t care about your friend” He explained while staring at Magnus.

“See you, asshole” Berwald just put his sword back and started to walk towards the exit of the cave.

“Hey, wait!” But before he could follow him, the Dragon stepped down which made the floor to shake.

The Dragon was still annoyed about Magnus’s attitude.

“What are you going to give me in return?” The dragon insisted.

“Money? What the hell do you want?” Magnus wasn’t sure what to say “I have gold but I’m not sure why a dragon would want that. It’s not like you are going to buy things in the market or something” Magnus stated.

“I do go to the market” The dragon was really offended by that.

“Do Dragons have a market for them? Because I have never seen a dragon in a market in my life” Magnus was genuinely curious about it.

The dragon realized that the conversation was useless.

“If I show you my human form, will you believe me?” The dragon asked.

“What do you mean “human form”?” Magnus thought it was all part of a dream. Maybe he had fallen of a cliff and he had injured himself so bad that he was having hallucinations.

All of the sudden the dragon was covered in a lot of dust and his shape changed to a rather skinny human being.

“You know, I need clothing and food. And being a dragon drags a lot of attention, so I have to use my human form” The dragon explained.

Magnus wasn’t able to say a thing in that moment.

“What?” The dragon asked annoyed.

“Well, you just transformed… You had wings and horns and your skin was all blue” Magnus explained “And now… You are naked”

The dragon didn’t have anything to cover himself.

“Give me your cape then” The dragon demanded.

“You don’t have any manners, do you?” Magnus put his sword on the floor and then he gave the dragon his cape.

“You invaded my cave, so don’t you dare talking about manners” The dragon reminded him while covering himself.

They were in silence for a while.

“So what’s your name?” Magnus felt more relaxed now that the dragon had transformed himself.

“Sigurd” The creature replied.

Magnus smirked and approached the dragon.

“You don’t look so dangerous now” Magnus commented.

“I can still kick you in the balls if you get near” Sigurd replied with some hesitation.

“You are a very sassy dragon, don’t you?” Magnus was starting to have fun.

The whole situation was pretty damn ridiculous for both of them.

“I’m five centuries old. I get annoyed by humans a lot. What do you expect?” Sigurd replied and then he sat on the ground.

Sigurd couldn’t stop looking at Magnus, not only because he was attractive, but because he reminded him of someone he had met a long time ago.

“Then I don’t have anything to offer you. I mean, you are so old… What a twenty-five year old guy can give you that you don’t have it already? Magnus was getting tired so he yawned.

Sigurd remained in silence for a while before answering.

“Take me with you” Sigurd requested. That cave was really lonely and it’s not like he could go out there without people noticing it. Having wings was fun but not when they dragged so many attention.

Magnus was intrigued.

“Why?” The Dane was about to say yes, but he wanted to know the reason behind that petition.

“Because I’m bored” He replied “Take me with you and you can walk out from here”

Magnus looked at Sigurd. He was quite handsome for a dragon, he thought.

“Okay, but you have to help with the hunting and behave” Magnus said. He couldn’t believe that a damn dragon wanted to join them.

“I’ll behave” Sigurd promised “But I forgot to tell you that your friend is going to get a nice surprise”

“What do you mean by surprise?” Magnus was concerned.

“Oh, you will see it” Sigurd promised before stretching “And I think we need to get out right now” He warned the Dane.


	3. Chapter 3

Berwald thought he got free quite easily.

“Screw him” He said aloud without noticing two big purple eyes that were staring at him.

“Screw who?” A strong voice asked with curiosity.

“Magnus…” But soon Berwald realized that someone or something was talking back at him.

“Why? What did he do?” The creature asked naturally.

Berwald almost fainted there. Almost in front of him was another dragon. But this one seemed a little bit friendlier than the other one.

“He…” Berwald thought that was it. He was going to die right there.

A light-blue dragon was staring at him. Berwald noticed that the creature was smiling. Could dragons even do that? The animal looked like he was entertained.

“What?” The dragon couldn’t tell what the matter was.

“You are a dragon” Berwald calmly explained.

“So? You were in a cave with another dragon” The creature reminded him.

Berwald was trying to think in a way to get out of that situation.

“That dragon let me out and I ‘m hoping you do the same” Berwald wasn’t sure how to ask it nicely. It was a dragon after all.

The animal shook his head.

“Everyone here comes to visit Sigurd and nobody comes for me!” The dragon complained “Do you know how boring it is? At least Sigurd gets visitors, but nobody cares about me!” He roared.

“The myth only talks about one dragon, not two” Berwald explained him.

“What do I have to do to be noticed? I have never killed humans or instigated fires” The dragon felt bad.

“Well, I do acknowledge you now” Berwald was surprised by the whole situation. He was trying to comfort a dragon.

The animal waved his tail, causing the fall of some trees. Yet couldn’t stop looking at the human. He reminded him of someone but he couldn’t tell who.

“You are a nice human” The dragon suddenly said and then he saw the sword “Do you realize that a sword doesn’t work with us? I mean, you have to get very lucky to get a dragon to show its belly to you”

“I think you shouldn’t tell people how to kill you in the first place” Berwald was somehow afraid for the dragon. What if the animal encounter a person that actually wanted to kill it?

“Ooops!” The dragon was so happy to have someone to talk to that he revealed a little bit too much.

“Can I go now? My stupid partner is inside that cave but I guess if he can survive that, maybe he’ll catch on” Berwald was still mad about the fact that Magnus tried to turn on him.  

“But I’m going to be all alone!” The dragon complained once more “I don’t like to be alone” He explained with a sad tone.

“I… Well…” Berwald didn’t have a solution. He was afraid that he was going to stay there forever. He felt bad for the dragon though.

“Can you be my friend? I like Sigurd but sometimes he is a little bit grumpy for my taste?”  The animal requested.

“Sure, I guess…” He wasn’t the one who was going to say no to a damn dragon that could eat him in just a couple of minutes if it wanted to.

“Are you going somewhere? Can I go with you?” The dragon was about to burst of excitement.

“You are going to drag a lot of attention” Berwald said.

“Oh, if my current appearance is a problem, then I can switch” The creature confessed.

All of the sudden there was a lot of wind and Berwald was forced to hide his face with his clothing and it stopped the same way that it arrived.

“Is this better?” The dragon asked.

When Berwald was finally able to see, he was shocked. There was a relative small chubby guy where the dragon was supposed to be. And completely naked which made him blush.

“I guess…” Berwald was too surprised to even make a coherent response.

The dragon giggled and walked towards the adventurer with no shame at all.

“Can you lend some clothes? I tend to ripped them all when I transform” He requested.

Berwald nodded.

_Could a dragon be as cute as that guy?_  Berwald thought while looking thought his backpack. He finally managed to get some and gave it to the dragon.

“Thank you!” The creature said.

“I think we are going to buy you some new clothes in the market” He soon realized that his clothes were too big for the creature, which was ironic considering that the animal actually was almost four meters long and three meters tall, at least.

“I’m Tino!” The dragon introduced himself “I didn’t want to be rude, sorry.”

“Berwald, nice to meet you” Berwald replied before putting on his backpack.

When they were about to leave, a sudden scream stopped them.

“Berwald, wait!” Magnus was running and a young man was following him.

Tino smiled when he realized that Sigurd was coming too.

“So you survived, huh?” Berwald couldn’t believe it.

“Can you at least pretend that you are happy about it?” Magnus complained about the way he was greeting him “Are you still salty about it?”

“Wouldn’t you be mad about it?” Berwald wasn’t really shocked about his attitude anyways.

But the conversation ended quickly when they realized that Sigurd and Tino were talking to each other.

“Why are you here? This is my mountain” Sigurd didn’t look happy at all. Well, he never was but still he was shocked that Tino was there.

“I smelled the humans and since I’ve never gotten visitors, I wanted to meet them!” Tino explained “Don’t be mad at me, please” He begged to the other dragon.

“I’m not mad. Just… Whatever. I’m glad to see you. It’s been… Like two hundred years or so?” Sigurd couldn’t remember exactly.

“Since the Incident” Tino said with a serious face.

“The Incident?” Magnus was way too curious. The whole situation was pretty weird.

“We don’t talk about the Incident ever” Sigurd explained to him.

“But you are talking about the Incident right now” Berwald remarked.

Sigurd rolled his eyes. He was glad that Tino was there.

“Wait” Magnus noticed a big detail “Who is that?” He pointed out Tino.

“I can say the same to you” Berwald replied.

“Dragons” They responded at the same time.

And just like that, our two adventurers didn’t get any treasures at all but at least they got two dragons! But they were about to find out why some legends just need to stay like legends.


	4. Chapter 4

Magnus wasn’t sure if they just got lucky or if it was a curse.

“So let me get this straight. You are also a dragon” Magnus asked Tino.

“Yes! I was bored in my own cave and then I smell your scent. So I wanted to meet Sigurd’s new friends” Tino calmly explained.

“They are not my friends. I almost ate them” Sigurd quickly replied while trying to cover himself with the cape.

But Tino didn’t really care about Sigurd’s response.

“Anyways… I’m here” Tino said with a smile “I’m not going anywhere” He added with a smile that gave Magnus the chills. 

Magnus looked at Berwald.

“Ber, can I talk to you on private?” Magnus requested.

“Sure” He was as confused as his friend.

When they were all alone, Magnus confronted him.

“What are we going to do with them?” He asked but he knew that Berwald was having the same struggle.

“We can’t abandon them” Berwald looked at Tino and he thought he was so adorable.

Magnus rolled his eyes.

“I knew you were into dragons but not in that way” Magnus laughed at him.

“This is your fault anyways” Berwald blushed and then cleared his throat “You were the one that wanted to be the treasure hunter. I just came along because I was bored” He admitted.

Magnus took a glance at the two young men that were staying a couple of meters near them.

“I guess” He realized that there was no other way around “But if we find a treasure, it’s going to be 75% mine and 25% yours” Magnus explained before returning to the where the dragons where.

Sigurd was really uncomfortable with the cape. It barely covered him.

“Can you give some pants? I can’t walk with this” He complained.

“If you say the magic words, I’ll give them to you” Magnus promised.

“Uh, can I enter the contest too? I’m good at magic!” Tino was like a puppy in front of new toys.

Sigurd almost killed him with his glance.

“Give me some pants” Sigurd repeated ignoring on purpose what Magnus just asked him.

“Okay, okay. Don’t get so mad, geez!” Magnus turned around and he went through his things.

“Is the contest still going on? Because I know I’m good at magic” Tino was completely clueless.

Sigurd stared at him for an obnoxiously long time.

“Don’t you dare say anything like that. We are going to get in so much trouble, Tino” Sigurd took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure if he was going to make it if things were already so annoying.

Tino shrugged and went to stand next to Berwald. He was fascinated with him for some reason.

“Where are we going?” Tino asked him.

“There’s a small village near him. It shouldn’t take us a long time to get there. I’ll buy you some clothes there” Berwald promised the dragon.

“Oh, that sounds fun. It’s been a while since we were on that village” Tino was so hyped that he could barely stay quiet.

After Sigurd changed clothes, the small group started to walk towards the town.

Once they got there, Sigurd and Tino couldn’t even hide how curious they were about the place. Berwald was forced to grab Tino’s hand because he was about to run away and he wasn’t sure if it was the right place to let a dragon be free.

Magnus offered his hand to Sigurd but the dragon refused.

“I’m not a small child” He replied. There were so many unfamiliar smells that were calling him and he was struggling to not go and see what they were about.

“You can of act like one though” Magnus answered back.

Sigurd grabbed Magnus’s hand and then stared at him.

“Are you happy now?” The dragon asked with impatience.

“I’ll be happy when we reach the inn and eat something” Magnus was starving. He wanted some beer and beef and then sleep all night long.

Tino giggled which made Sigurd mad.

“What’s so funny?” He was already regretting all of this, but he couldn’t let Magnus out so easily.

“You two are cute. It reminds me of the old times” Tino explained.

Sigurd blushed. He didn’t want to think about it at all.

And so, they went to the inn. Tino was even more curious about it. He had never entered any kind of building until that very moment.

After checking in, they went to their rooms. They didn’t have much money left, so they only could get two bedrooms.

“So who is sleeping with who?” Magnus asked.

“I chose Berwald!” Tinos quickly responded and then he looked at his new friend.

Berwald blushed again and Magnus had to bit his lips to not laugh at him.

“Well, I guess that’s it” Sigurd knew from the start that Magnus wasn’t going to let him be alone with Tino and for once, he thought it was the best decision made. He still had some troubles with the other dragon and he wasn’t sure that a place so full humans was a great place to talk to him.

“Hey, I’m the best roommate ever” Magnus promised.

“He isn’t” Berwald shook his head “Beware. He will try to kick you during the night” He explained before going entering his room.

“Don’t listen to him. He is just jealous that he isn’t as cool as me” Magnus responded even though he heard the door closing behind his back.

Once they entered their own room, Sigurd sat on the bed. It was way more comfortable than the rocks on that damn cave.

Magnus couldn’t believe his luck at all. He had a dragon there with him. He smirked, maybe his luck wasn’t that bad.

Sigurd just stared at him. It was so damn annoying how much he looked like a certain person that he used to know and for a moment he thought that he could be him. He shook his head. It was a stupid idea.

“What?” Magnus was getting a little bit nervous.

“Nothing, nothing” Sigurd turned around. He had waited a long time for him. Maybe his hope was getting him stupid ideas.

_You promised, stupid fool. When are you coming back?_


	5. Chapter 5

After entering their own room, Tino stared at Berwald with curiosity. Everything that the man did, the dragon found it fascinating.

“Why don’t you sit on the bed?” Berwald asked since Tino was just standing in front of the door.

Tino nodded. Centuries had passed since the last time he sat on a bed. He rolled a couple of times because it was so cozy.

“Wow! Human beds are way better than dragon beds!” Tino shouted with excitement.

“What are dragon beds?” Berwald was a little afraid of the response.

“You know, gold, diamonds, pretty rocks that I like… Nothing too fancy” Tino said naively.

“Are you sure that’s not fancy?” Berwald wanted to know more about this particular dragon. Maybe those treasures motivated him a little bit more, but it was Tino’s behavior that he found interesting.

“I’ll take you to my cave one day and I’ll give you one my toys” Tino promised with a smile.

Berwald put his belongings in the corner of the room. He looked at Tino and he was so damn happy that he almost felt the same way.

But since Tino’s clothing were too big for him and Berwald was afraid that those pants would fall again, the adventurer decided that he would take dinner to their room and tomorrow morning he would buy him more suitable clothing for him.

“Wait for me. Please don’t move from here” Berwald was afraid that Tino could run after or even escape. He didn’t want to deal with the responsibility of having a dragon on the loose.

Tino was playing with the pillows when he heard that.

“Okay. I won’t move! I can do that, trust me!” Tino didn’t want to disappoint his new partner so he almost didn’t even blink.

Berwald hoped for the best and went to the dinner. He bought some bread with meat and beer. He couldn’t hide the fact that he was nervous so he turned around every now and then to the stairs just in case Tino decided to get out of the room.

When he returned, he realized that Tino literally didn’t move from the place where he was.

“See! I did what you told me!” Tino smirked, he felt like he accomplished something.

Berwald couldn’t help to stare at him. Who would know that dragons can be cute?  But he decided to keep that thought for himself.

“Yes, you did a good job” Berwald was proud of him for some reason.

But soon the food caught Tino’s attention. He stood up and walked towards Berwald.

“This smells so good” He said before grabbing a piece of bread and sniffing it.

“You can have that” He wasn’t going to eat anything with dragon breathe in it.

Tino’s eyes shined when Berwald said that.

“Really? I always wanted to eat one of these” Tino stared at the piece of bread for a long time.

“You can eat it. You don’t to eat to wait or anything” Berwald calmly explained.

The adventurer proceeded to eat his dinner. He was starving after all the exercise that they did during the past days so having a nice meal it was almost a relief.

Tino gave a huge bite to the bread and he felt a little bit confused. It was so soft! He was more like an avid carnivore so it was a really weird sensation.

“Do you like it?” Berwald asked after eating some of his own meal.

“It’s funny” Tino admitted before eating some more.

After finishing dinner and Berwald drinking all his beer, it was time to sleep. The adventurer extinguished the only candle that the room had and after taking most of his clothes, he went to bed.

But Tino, following his curious nature, followed him and he sat down right next to him.

“What’s on your mind?” Berwald noticed soon that the night wasn’t going to end any time soon.

“You have a tattoo on your back” Tino didn’t even ask for permission. He just touched the back of the human laying down next to him.

Berwald wasn’t mad at him at all. Maybe if it was someone else, he would have reacted more violently. But he couldn’t get angry at him for some reason.

“I always had it there” Berwald explained.

The tattoo was a golden shield with some inscriptions in it. It was in a language that was thought to be extinguished. But Tino could read it without any problems.

“Oh…” Tino covered his mouth.

“What?” Berwald already closed his eyes but he couldn’t sleep.

“Nothing, nothing. It’s nothing” Tino promised but his happy expression was erased and he was more serious and concerned. He needed to talk to Sigurd tomorrow morning.

“Are you sure?” Berwald didn’t trust his tone of voice.

Tino stopped touching him and then stood up.

“Don’t worry. It’s nothing. Your tattoo is quite interesting. I’ve never seen anything like that and that’s not easy to accomplish” Tino laughed and walked to the window, to stare at the sky.

Berwald was even more concerned. Tino turned around and bend to his knees, so they would be really close.

“You…” Tino smiled sadly. It was impossible but could he be…?

“Do I have something in my face?” Berwald asked. There was something strange in the way that Tino looked at him. But he couldn’t tell exactly what it was.

“Never mind. Sleep, I’m being annoying. I’m sorry” Tino apologized.

“What about you?” Berwald wanted to sleep so badly but he was worried about Tino. What if he escaped when he was asleep?

“I’ll be right here. I’m not going anywhere” Tino sounded sad “I’m not going anywhere” He repeated to make sure that Berwald understood.

Tino sat down on the floor. That tattoo reminded him of the one that he had lost. He didn’t want to have any hopes at all. He shook his head. It was for the best to not think on him. It was too damn painful.

Meanwhile things between Sigurd and Magnus were going on a particular course, but that’s another chapter.  


	6. Chapter 6

Sigurd was intrigued to say the least. How can a living creature could be so fascinating and annoying at the same time? He was about to hit the floor because Magnus was using all the bed for himself.

“Can you let me sleep?” Sigurd asked but Magnus was deeply sleeping.

His snores were also getting on his nerves.

“In that cave, I didn’t have to deal with this” Sigurd told himself.

But he wasn’t going to let Magnus get away with it. That bed was meant to be shared and so Sigurd pushed the adventurer to the ground.

“What the hell?!” Magnus screamed after hitting his face with the floor. His hair was even messier tan usual.

“You are using all the bed so I decided to teach you a lesson” Sigurd said proudly.

Magnus couldn’t believe it. He was wondering if Berwald was having a similar problem.

“Are all dragons so resentful?” He shook his head and then returned to his place on the bed.

Sigurd was about to explain how he used to know two dragons that weren’t like that, but it was an open wound and he didn’t want to explain so intimate to that loud human.

“Do you really want to test my limits?” Sigurd was just playing around, but he wanted to scare him a little bit. Maybe he would be more respectful then.

But instead of showing fear, Magnus turned around and closed his eyes.

“Not tonight. Maybe in the morning” He replied. He was too tired.

“I hope you are prepared” Sigurd was a little bit disappointed.

After a while, Sigurd stood up and opened the window. He just stared at the sky, hoping to see what he was looking for some many years. And yet, he knew that it wasn’t going to happened that night or the next one.

He looked at the naked back of Magnus. There he noticed a strange tattoo and before he realized, he was touching it with one of his fingers. The words were on a language that wasn’t available anymore to the human knowledge.

“Hey, where did you get this?” He was really curious about it, so much that he really didn’t care about the fact that Magnus was trying to rest.

“I don’t know. Does it matter?” Magnus never really gave it a thought.

“Yeah, it does” Sigurd wasn’t sure how much he could tell Magnus. The whole thing was a non-sense already.

“Can we discuss it in the morning?” Magnus requested.

Sigurd didn’t reply. He realized he was being annoying. He layed down and closed his eyes.

When the morning returned, Magnus and Berwald reunited on the first floor of the inn.

“You look like crap” Berwald told Magnus. He wasn’t even trying to insult him, he was just being honest.

“You always look like crap, but at least I don’t say it a loud” Magnus complained.

“Why are you so moody? Geez, I think you need to drink a beer and it’s only seven of the morning” Berwald was surprised by his attitude.

Magnus shook his head.

“Sorry, certain dragon didn’t allow me to sleep for a long time” He explained.

Both of them looked towards their respective rooms, where the dragons were sitting.

“Do you think they are going to stay there?” Berwald was concerned. Tino didn’t want to be alone and begged him to let him go with him. He almost comply but then he remembered that he didn’t want Tino to be walking half naked around the town.

“They should. I hope so” Magnus yawned before leaving the inn.

Tino decided that he wanted to follow both men even though the pants that he was wearing was too big for him. But first, he went to other room where Sigurd was.

“Let’s go with them!” Tino suggested without even saying hi.

But Sigurd was not in the mood for that.

“We can’t go out looking like this” Sigurd reminded him.

“Well, we can always transform and—“

“No! Absolutely not!” Sigurd shook his head several times. He was surprised that Tino was willing to be so reckless.

Tino gave some kicks to the floor. He was really upset about everything.

“What if they don’t return?” Tino was afraid that the two men were about to ditch them.

“They are going to come back” Sigurd tried to calm down the other dragon.

“How do you know that?” Tino wasn’t really sure. He wanted to believe him but he had his doubts.

“Well, if you are afraid of that, there’s one way to make sure that they are still in town” Sigurd suggested “Just follow me” He also wanted to get out of there.

After they finished shopping for Tino’s and Sigurd’s clothing, Berwald and Magnus returned to the inn. They still needed to plan where they were heading next.

“Don’t you feel like someone is watching us?” Berwald asked. Maybe he was being paranoid but it was a strange feeling nonetheless.

“Just your imagination” Magnus brushed it off.

The men entered their rooms and they almost died from shock.

“I knew this would happen” Berwald wasn’t even that surprised.

“Damn it!” Magnus rubbed his head before getting out again.

But after they went outside, a soft voice called them.

“Are you going to leave us here?”

Magnus and Berwald looked around but they couldn’t figure out where that voice came from.

“Upstairs!” Tino screamed.

The two dragons were sitting on the roof meanwhile they were waiting for the two adventurers.

After they reunited and the dragons changed their clothes, they were all sitting on Magnus’s room. There was a huge map on the map.

“So we need to figure out we are heading” Magnus stared at map for an uncomfortable long time.

“Can I suggest somewhere?” Sigurd asked “I know a place where a lot of treasures are waiting for you”


	7. Chapter 7

Tino stared at the point where Sigurd was showing and he started to shake his head in disagreement.

“No. We are not going to take them there” Tino stated and then he looked at Sigurd’s eyes.

“Tino, don’t do this” Sigurd asked. He already knew that Tino coming with them was an issue itself.

“Sigurd, please think about it” Tino didn’t want to fight but he was sure that he wouldn’t put a single foot into that place.

Magnus and Berwald just stood there, watching and listening to the argument that the dragons were having.

“Are we going to see a dragon fight?” Magnus whispered to Berwald “Because I forgot the beer and popcorn”

“I’m more concerned by the fact that we might become roasted chicken if they actually start fighting” Berwald explained.

Neither of the dragons were going to accept the other one point of view.

“Tino, I really want to go there” Sigurd was about to beg him.

“Sigurd, I don’t think it’s a good idea” Tino was worried about the humans and about the memories that that place could bring.

Sigurd looked at the humans.

“Can I have a moment of privacy with Tino?”There was something he wanted to tell the other dragon, but he wanted to keep it as a secret for the humans, at least for a while.

“Hey! You were the ones that were supposed to obey us!” Magnus was a little bit pissed off because of how things were turning.

“Magnus, I don’t think it’s a good idea to make two dragons angry” Berwald reminded him.

“Five minutes and then you can come back” Sigurd proposed.

On the other hand, Tino was confused. He didn’t trust Sigurd at all.

“Let’s go, Magnus” Berwald grabbed him by the arm “Five minutes” He repeated to the dragons before walking away.

Once the two explorers were out, Sigurd decided to tell Tino what was going on on his mind.

“Magnus has a tattoo. A big one on his back, like a shield and the color was red” Sigurd explained “I don’t believe in coincidences”

Tino was playing with his fingers but he stopped when the other one said that.

“Berwald has a similar one. But it’s yellow and...” Tino bit his lips “Do you think they are—?”

“That’s why I want to go there. Maybe they just saw those designs in a really old book and decided they were cool. Or maybe they are...” Sigurd didn’t want to say the words.

Tino understood immediately.

“We have to protect them though. Do you realize that? That place wasn’t meant to be found by humans. I’m not sure why is in that map in the first place” Tino had some questions regarding Berwald’s tattoo. To be honest, he wasn’t satisfied with his answer but he didn’t want it to be a push-over.

Sigurd took a deep breath.

“Yes, I’m aware of that. But it’s going to be worth it” Sigurd at least hoped that all those incoming troubles would be rewarded.

Magnus knocked the door and then entered.

“Ding, dong! The five minutes are over!” Magnus announced it so loud, that it was probably heard in the next room.

“Sometimes I wonder why I’m following you” Berwald complained.

Magnus completely ignored Berwald’s comment and went straight to the point.

“So what have you two decided?” Magnus was quite intrigued.

“I think it’s a good place to explore” Tino said not really convinced.

Sigurd hit him with his elbow. Clearly Tino wasn’t a mastermind of disguise or an expert in lying.

“Where did you buy this map?” Sigurd was sure that the place that they have chosen didn’t show in normal maps.

“Oh, well. An old guy sold us that map. Well, he actually gave it to us. For some reason, he wanted to get rid off that map” Magnus explained “But who the hell wants to get rid off a map?” Magnus shrugged and then laughed.

“An old guy?” Sigurd was curious. He took another look at the map. He was right, it as magical map. But he decided to keep that information for himself.

“He also gave us this weird book” Berwald took a very old and fragile book out of his belongings “I’ve tried to decipher it, but it’s an old language” He explained before handle it to Tino.

Tino tried to be really careful while turning the pages. He opened his eyes widely and then he showed the pictures that were placed there to Sigurd.

“Damn it” Sigurd was getting suspicious about that old guy.

“What’s wrong?” Magnus realized that something changed in Sigurd’s expression. It was barely noticeable but it was there.

“Nothing, nothing” Sigurd violently closed the book and gave it back to Berwald “Just keep it safe” He requested.

“Well, can you at least explain why we are heading there? Are there treasures or something?” He realized that the dragons were holding something back for some reason.

“There are huge treasures! Treasures that no one has ever seen!” Tino was exaggerating and he almost got hit again by Sigurd.

Magnus and Berwald looked at each other, not knowing what to believe.

“Anyways, you don’t have anything to worry about. We are going to protect you” Sigurd brushed it off.

“And what’s the name of this place?” Berwald couldn’t hide that he was really worry about the whole issue.

“Does it matter?” Tino giggled and then approached the explorer “it’s not really important”

“Yes, it is” Magnus was getting even more suspicious.

Sigurd took a deep breath.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds” Sigurd promised “It’s called… The Dragon’s Hell Creek”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

 

Magnus and Berwald stared at each other before saying anything at all.

“I thought you were explorers. Then let’s go and explore” Sigurd insisted because he realized that the two men were having doubts.

“I mean…” Magnus scratched the back of his head “I’m sure it’s a pretty cool place” He laughed nervously.

“Why is it call the Dragon’s Hell Creek though?” Berwald politely asked. Tino already told him that they weren’t prepared to fight dragons so he was concerned about the possibility of meeting more dragons.

“Because ancient people thought it was a cool name. You know, like that famous cave “The Old Lady Scream” or like “The mortal dessert”. Just stupid names” Tino shrugged It off like it wasn’t a big deal.

Magnus looked at Berwald before making a decision.

“So what do you say? The worst that could happen is that we both die in a horrible way” Magnus laughed nervously.

“We are going to protect you, dumbass.  You can’t have better guardians than two dragons” Sigurd didn’t understand why they were having so many doubts.

“Okay, I guess we don’t have anything to lose more than our lives” Berwald replied.

“Yeah, that’s the spirit!” Tino grabbed Berwald’s hands and smirked “I’ll do my best!” He promised cheerfully.

After discussing some more details, they all decided that they were going to leave town the next day.

During the night, when they made sure that Berwald and Magnus were sleeping, Tino and Sigurd talked a little bit more.

“Do you think that we are going to find new eggs?” Tino was curious “It’s been a while since a dragon was born if you think about it”

“Well, I hope so. I want to read that book again but I don’t want the humans to get suspicious” Sigurd looked at the sky.

They sat there in silence for a while.

“Do you think that they will ever come back?” Tino knew it wasn’t a very discrete question but Sigurd was the only one that could understand his feelings. Year after year, century after century, and they kept waiting for something to happen.

“I…” Sigurd stopped right there. He realized that he couldn’t give an answer to that. Every year, the hope faded. But somewhere inside him force him to still waiting for his partner.

Tino smirked and he shook his head.

“I miss him. He didn’t talk a lot but he always listened to me” Tino hided his face when he realized that he was tearing up.

“Damn it, Tino. You are going to make me cry too” Sigurd complained because he couldn’t stop thinking in the red dragon “He was dork and sometimes I questioned his intelligence but he was always there” He murmured.

He could still remember those stupid jokes that the red dragon often liked to tell or how he love to brag about his strength. There was something about Magnus that reminded him about the red dragon.

Silence again.

On the other hand, Tino couldn’t stop thinking about Berwald’s tattoo. He closed his eyes and the first thing that came to his mind was his former partner laying next to him.  He almost felt like he could reach him.

“Go to rest, Tino. We are going to make a long trip” Sigurd stood up and took a deep breath.

“Do you feel ready?” Tino questioned Sigurd “It’ been a long time since… You know” He reminded him.

“Let’s see” Sigurd shrugged it off and went back to Magnus’s room.

But neither of the dragons could close an eye for the entire night. They were nervous and excited at the same time. Maybe they could finally have some answers.

After breakfast, they were ready to leave town.

“So where are we going now?” Magnus asked Sigurd.

“Just trust me, okay?” He requested and he started to walk towards the forest.

“That doesn’t really sound like someone who is trust-worthy would say” Magnus replied but he still followed Sigurd.

Tino made a sign to Berwald. He could still that the explorer had his doubts.

“Everything is going to be all right. I may not seem like it, but I’m pretty strong” Even though it sound like he was bragging, Tino only wanted to make Berwald feel safe with him.

“Really?” Berwald looked at Tino.

“Of course! I’ll prove to you sometime” Tino winked at Berwald and then turned around.

Every once in a while, Tino and Sigurd looked at each other. It was obvious that they were anxious about what they were about to do. Sigurd could hide it better, but Tino was having his doubts. What if Berwald refused? They were already risking their lives for something that they didn’t even know with certainty.

Finally they reached an open field.

“Berwalnd and Magnus, can you make sure that nobody is following us?” Sigurd requested.

Magnus noticed a weird bright in his eyes but he brush it off.

“We don’t really look like we are rich or something. I don’t think that there’s anything to worry about” Magnus explained.

“Please!” Tino begged with those big sad puppy’s eyes that he used every once in a while.

Berwald couldn’t say no and then he grab Magnus by the arm. It was suspicious but he thought that dragons had a very good reason to have their doubts.

When they had returned, both men were equally surprised.

The clothes that they had bought for the dragons were left near a tree.

“Did they ditch us?” Magnus loudly asked. He was confused.

But all of the sudden, he felt like the wind was about to make him fell into the ground.

“I told you to trust me” A very guttural voice reprehended Magnus.

The explorer turned around and he opened his eyes widely.

“Are you seeing this, Berwald?” He couldn’t stop staring at Sigurd.

“Yes” Berwald was out of breath because he was so impressed.

The two dragons were flying and displaying those huge wings just in front of them.

“I hope you two really enjoy the ride!” Tino exclaimed.

Berwald and Magnus looked at each other.  Not even in their wildest dreams they had thought that they could ride a dragon someday and yet there they were while the creatures waited for them.

 

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

The flight was uncomfortable. For everyone, dragons and humans.

During the journey, the dragons started to split up without telling anything to Magnus and Berwald.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Magnus shouted but Sigurd kept quiet. When he turned around, Tino and Berwald were already way too far away to demand an explanation. He was completely shocked and he wondered if Berwald felt the same way.

The landing was so rough that Magnus thought for a minute that he was going to fall. He cursed and he hung up to Sigurd’s neck after the dragon was already on the land.

“You can go down now” Sigurd told him when things were starting to get uncomfortable. He didn’t mind the hug but he didn’t want to hear the extensive vocabulary that Magnus had.

When they finally reached the creek, Magnus ran fast to a tree and it held it for a long time.

“It wasn’t that bad” Sigurd said. Or at least, he didn’t want to make a big deal about it.

“You tried to do a barrel-roll! With me on your back!” Magnus complained.

“But I got you when you fell so…”  Sigurd approached the explorer and grabbed him by the hand “Come on. I’ll make up to you” He promised.

Magnus looked at Sigurd for a while. He wasn’t sure what to say. He looked around and he realized that they were both completely alone.  

“Where are Berwald and Tino?” Magnus was concerned. Mostly because if something happened to Berwald, he was the one who was going to get the blame.

“Give me my clothes back and I’ll tell you” Sigurd was getting embarrassed from being naked for so long.

“Right, right” Magnus put his backpack on the ground and then he handle the clothes to the dragon.

Magnus turned around while waiting for Sigurd to get dressed.

“Tino landed on the other side of the creek because the space wasn’t big enough for the both of us” Sigurd calmly explained.

Magnus was starting to think that the dragons were the adventurers. But he had to trust them.

“The things that I do for fame and money” Magnus took a deep breath and then smirked at Sigurd “Well, what do we do now?” He asked

“We are going to set a camp and stay here for the night. We shouldn’t be walking on the dark” Sigurd suggested and he began to grab some wood.

“So… Wait. We are going to spend the night separated. How do we know that they are opkay?” Magnus asked.

Sigurd rolled his eyes.

“Berwald is in good hands. You know, Tino almost set a village on fire because…” Sigurd covered his mouth because he realized that he was talking too much “Never mind”

Magnus couldn’t believe that.

“Tino? Are you sure? He doesn’t look like the kind of dragon to do that. You, on the other hand…” Magnus shrugged and smiled.

Sigurd almost killed him with his eyes.

“Tino is the kind of dragon that you don’t want to mess with. I almost ate you, sure. But if he didn’t like you, he could turn you on a barbecue easily” Sigurd inspected their surroundings and then he sat down.

Magnus made the tent and then he sat next to Sigurd. For some reason, even though he was quite sure he had never been there, the forest looked somehow familiar. Some strange memories came to him but he shook his head. It was impossible.

_I’ll wait for you._

Magnus was sure he heard a voice.

“Did you say something?” Magnus wasn’t sure.

“No” Sigurd raised an eyebrow.

He noticed how disoriented Magnus was feeling but he decided to keep quiet. It wasn’t enough to get a confirmation for his suspicious.

“I think I got dizzy from the flight” Magnus complained. Maybe he was too tired.

“Why don’t you rest? I told you, I’ll protect you” Sigurd looked at the fire.  

“But you are going to get bored!” Magnus pointed out.

“You need to sleep because we are going to walk a long distance tomorrow and I need to think about some stuff” Sigurd explained.

Magnus wasn’t happy about it but he was getting a headache and he realized that there was no point in arguing.

“I don’t want to leave you alone” Magnus said before entering the tent.

Sigurd opened his eyes widely after hearing those words. For some reason, they resonated in him. He put one of his hands over his chest.

Before he could realize it, a couple of tears fell through his cheeks.

“Oh, before I forget about it…” Magnus came back and he sat down as fast he could “Hey, buddy. What’s going on?” He asked.

Sigurd didn’t want any pity from anyone.

“Nothing, nothing. You didn’t see anything” The dragon tried to put some distance between the two of them.

“Yes, I did” Magnus was too stubborn to let it go “So I don’t care, Mister Proud Dragon. You are going to tell me what’s going on” He was still feeling dizzy but he was concerned.

Sigurd took a glance at Magnus and for just a moment, he could see his former partner.

“You look like you have just seen a ghost to be honest” Magnus added and then he scratched the back of his neck “Why are you staring at me like that? You are not considering eating me, right?”

Sigurd couldn’t even speak. He was astonished. But Tino wasn’t there and he couldn’t just reveal to Magnus any information. Not just yet.

“I think I’m just tired and I miss my cave” Sigurd blatantly lied.

Magnus wasn’t convinced at all.

“Let’s cuddle for the night. I promise I’ll behave” Magnus proposed and then he hugged Sigurd out of nowhere.

Sigurd was shocked. Not because of the hug per se, but because of how warm he felt. It was a familiar sensation.

“If you promise that you won’t tell anybody about this” Sigurd said with difficulty.

When they were already trying to sleep on the tent, Magnus felt like his chest was wet. He realized that Sigurd was silently crying in his arms.

“I think is raining” He explained before closing his eyes.  


	10. Chapter 10

Berwald was almost as confused as Magnus. When Tino fled to the other side, making a significant distance between him and Sigurd, he was concerned.

“Tino, what’s happening?” Berwald asked.

But the wings made a lot of noise and Tino kept flying away.

Berwald didn’t know what to do. He trusted Tino but this was completely unexpected. Where they were heading at? The explorer looked around but it was obvious that the place was wild.

When they finally arrived, Berwald walked a couple of meters, almost ignoring Tino. There was no sign of either Sigurd or Magnus. Was everything just a trick? After all, even though he seemed naïve, Tino was a ferocious dragon.  

“Berwald?” Tino put a hand on his shoulder after he had transform. The temperature was descending and he started to feel cold.

The explorer took a glance at the dragon and he realized that he couldn’t get mad at him even if he wanted to. He put his backpack on the ground and gave him some clothing.

He turned around again, waiting for Tino to put his clothes on.

“I’m sorry. I should have explained this before just going away” Tino apologized.

“Where are Sigurd and Magnus?” Berwald requested to know.

Tino felt bad for lying. He played with his fingers for a while before answering the question.

“On the other side…” Tino avoided eye contact “But we are going to reunite soon!” He promised.

Berwald didn’t answer. He just sat down in front of the tree. He was having doubts about the whole expedition.

“Are you mad at me?” Tino was concerned about the lack of response from Berwald.

“No. I just…” Berwald shook his head “It’s nothing”

But Tino didn’t believe him. He grabbed the man’s hands.

“I’m not hiding anything from you. We decided it would be the best for us to separate so we could explore more. Also, Sigurd and I are too big to land in the same place” Tino carefully explained.

Berwald nodded.

“Are we searching for something in particular?” Berwald was curious and Tino seemed he was about to come clean about everything.

Tino took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure what to do. But he wanted Berwald’s trust. He was afraid that Berwald could discover everything by himself. He actually liked the explorer and enjoyed his company. He didn’t want to ruin their friendship.

“Well, Sigurd says that there may be an egg or two. It’s been a while since a dragon was born and…” Tino hesitated but when he looked at Berwald’s eyes, he continued “And we want to see if that tattoo that you have has a meaning”

Berwald raised an eyebrow.

“Oh…” He was speechless.

“Don’t worry about your friend! Magnus is in good hands… Or claws” Tino jokingly said.

“Do you think that my tattoo has a meaning?” He asked.

Tino wanted to tell him a lot of things; how much he reminded of his former partner, how safe he felt around him, that he felt a especial connection with him and it was that connection that leaded them to that place. But maybe Berwald would think he was crazy. Maybe he was hoping for his partner to come back so much that he was seeing things that actually weren’t there.

“That color…” Tino sighed “That golden color… My former partner has….” He shook his head and then corrected himself “He had those same colors”

Berwald reached to Tino and put a hand over his cheeks.

Tino opened his eyes wide. He saw it. For a couple of seconds, he saw the image of his former partner just next to the explorer. It wasn’t possible yet the figure stayed there for a couple of seconds.

“You’ll find him again” Berwald promised.

Tino couldn’t even speak and started to tear uo. He instantly hugged Berwald with all his strength.

“Are you…?” Berwald decided to be quiet. He let Tino cried in his shoulder.

Tino felt pathetic. So many centuries had passed and he still was waiting for him.

“Do you think I’m a fool?” Tino tried to clean his face and stared at Berwald.

“No. I think it’s good to have hope” Berwald replied to him while he gently touched one of his red cheeks.

Tino stopped sobbing and took a deep breath. Then he smirked at Berwald.

“I hope you have a chance to meet him” Tino said before he stood up “I’ll go and hunt something, okay?” He needed some alone time. That vision couldn’t be just a coincidence. He wondered if Sigurd was experiencing the same thing. Only the oracle could give them an answer.

“I’ll set up the tent” Berwald replied.

Tino gave him a smile.

“We are a good team. Almost…” He shook his head “We are a good team” He repeated before entering the forest.

After eating, they went to their tent. Berwald couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that they were great together. What will he do once they were separated? Because that was going to happen sooner or later.

All of the sudden, Tino decided to cuddle with him.

“I hope you don’t mind” Tino rested his head over Berwald’s chest.

Berwald blushed but he couldn’t say no. He didn’t want to say no.

But Tino couldn’t sleep yet.

“What are you thinking about?” He started to draw small circles with his fingers on Berwald’s chest.

“Are we going to be friends forever? I mean…” Berwald stopped there.

Tino giggled.

“Of course, silly!” He exclaimed with certainty. He was actually hoping that Berwald held the key to revive his partner.

Berwald nodded.

“Sleep. We are going to walk a long distance to meet Sigurd and Magnus” Tino suggested.  When looked up to Berwald again, he saw the same vision and he tried to avoid eye contact.

“Are you sure?” Berwald was concerned about Tino.

“Can we stay like this?” Tino’s voice broke down “Just tonight”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay” Berwald closed his eyes.

And for one night, Tino felt like he was again in the company of his former partner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	11. Revelations

After eating breakfast, they started to walk. Magnus didn’t even know where they were heading because Sigurd refused to say anything about it.

“Come on, Sigurd. Just give me a clue” Magnus begged him. Anything was better than silence.

But the dragon remained quiet. He didn’t want to say anything to Magnus because he was in fear that he would tell him too much information. He was suspicious about something and the only way that he could get some sort of confirmation was through that walk. He felt guilty but he had to do it. Hopefully Tino would do the same.

Magnus started to sing then. Obnoxiously loud because he was bored.

“We could be walking towards the hell itself, but you can’t tell me that” Magnus complained, trying to get a response.

But all he got was a cold glance from Sigurd.

Suddenly, Magnus felt bad. A headache attacked him and he had to stop walking.

_Two red wings and fire. Shouting everywhere. He could see a couple of dragons flying above him but he couldn’t move. And it was very, very hot. He was melting. The fire touched his skin and it hurt. It hurt so much._

Sigurd turned around to help Magnus.

“It’s kind of hot, don’t you think, Sigurd?” Magnus smiled at the dragon even though he felt like he was in the hell.

“Everything will be okay” Sigurd grabbed him by the arm.

_There was something else with him in that space. Maybe a dragon. The smell was terrible and he was getting desperate. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. But he couldn’t move. He tried to open his wings but he couldn’t._

“It burns, damn it” Magnus complained and then he took off his shirt “My back… hurts”

Sigurd took a glance and he realized that the tattoo was getting brighter and brighter. The inscription that was in the red shield said: “Take me back to my origins and I’ll be raise once again”

“I know. I know it hurts” Sigurd moved again and grabbed Magnus’s hands for a while “Look at me, look at me” He requested.

Magnus was struggling in that moment. He didn’t understand what was happening. He was reviving something but he couldn’t explain what it was. His body felt like it was about to explode.

“I’ve been waiting for this for so long” Sigurd couldn’t hold any longer his feelings “You finally came back”

But Magnus wasn’t responding. His head hurt a lot.

_He was about to give up. It was so painful. He looked once again at the sky. A blue dragon stared at him. His heart was completely broken. He wasn’t going to be able to be with him anymore and he couldn’t understand why. He roared in pain. He roared until no sound could come out from his mouth. He roared until every single person of that reign could hear his pain._

“Damn it…” Magnus fell into the floor before passing out.

Sigurd held him between his arms and the tears fell into Magnus’s hair. The dragon was completely conscious about what he did. He was being selfish. He knew he was putting Magnus in a lot of pain and he was starting to have his doubts about it.

But he wanted his partner with him once again. He wanted to see those red wings raised above the sky once again. He wanted to hear his annoying roar. And mostly, he wanted to feel loved again.

Sigurd put his clothes on a side and even though it was a small place, he decided to transform. His human form was too weak to carry Magnus to the center of the creek. They were already heading there but with Magnus in that deplorable state, Sigurd knew that there was only a way to reach it.

With his tail, he put Magnus on his back. Since there wasn’t enough space for his wings, Sigurd had to slowly walk to the center. It was annoying. He wasn’t used to do a lot of walking with his true form. But he had to do it.

“Stupid trees” He complained. He had to hit them with his wings and tail to have some room.

_“Promise you will wait. And you won’t kill anyone. This isn’t their fault after all”_

Sigurd stopped when he heard Magnus muttering those words. After so many centuries, he still wanted revenge. He wanted someone to pay for the pain that they caused him. The dragon shook his head and continued his way.

He couldn’t stop wondering how Tino was doing. He was probably a mess. The love that he had and still have for his partner was noticeable.

Anyway, after a long walk that seemed it would never end, Sigurd finally reached the center of the creek. He stood there in silence when he saw three eggs. Three eggs? Sigurd was confused. Unless… No, it couldn’t be.

He put Magnus near a tree really carefully and then he came back to his human form. He coughed a little bit, thinking that the transformation should had been less dramatic. He went straight to the nest and there were the eggs: A bright red one, a shiny golden one and a small platinum one.

“Oh” Sigurd touched the smallest one. He looked at the drawings that covered the egg “A new dragon, huh?”

But when he heard that Magnus was waking up, he put the platinum egg on its place. He grabbed the red one, which was quite heavy, and took it where the explorer was.

“Sigurd?” Magnus was still dizzy. So many memories appeared on his mind all of the sudden.

The dragon sat next to the human and then he handled the red egg to Magnus.

“That’s yours” Sigurd said. He couldn’t stop looking at Magnus, anxiously waiting for what would happen next.

But Magnus was so confused. He didn’t understand a single thing.

“Mine?” He took the egg between his hands and stared at it for some time. All of the sudden, the egg began to hatch and a very small red dragon was born. It stayed in Magnus’s hand trying to display its wings.

“That’s you. I mean…” Sigurd wasn’t sure how to explain it “When you died, part of your soul was sealed in this egg and the other half was supposed to find the right container. Or at least, the book said that”

The newly born dragon moved around Magnus’s hands and tried without any success to expel some fire. The creature then sat down and stared at the human, waiting.

“No” Magnus shook his head.

“What do you mean _no_?” Sigurd realized way too late that Magnus was scared.

Magnus gave the creature to Sigurd and with some difficulty managed to stand up.

“You…” He pointed to Sigurd “You used us, don’t you? There was no treasure for neither me nor Berwald. You did this on purpose, for your selfish reasons” Magnus shook his head in disbelief.

“That’s not true. Magnus, listen. The moment I read what your tattoo said, I realized that you are him” He played with the small dragon that wanted to fly towards Magnus “You need him and he needs you. You are not complete”

But Magnus didn’t want to hear anything at all.

“You are telling me that I’m a dragon” Magnus was trying to figure out how to feel. There was still the burning sensation all over his back which annoyed him even more “I can’t do this”

Sigurd wasn’t sure what to do. He was about to lose him again.

“You are. As soon as you reunite with the dragon, you will understand everything. I promise” Sigurd tried to give him again the small creature that was getting impatient.

But Magnus ran away as fast as he could. Sigurd was talking stupid stuff, he thought.

The two dragons were left without any explanation. Sigurd continued to play with the red dragon. The creature tried to roar, calling to Magnus to come back.

“I’m sorry” He apologized to the creature that was looking sad “He’ll be back. I promise” Sigurd was so disappointed. He wanted his partner back, was he asking too much?

Magnus managed to run a far distance. He was tired and he couldn’t think straight. He wasn’t even sure what he was doing anymore. He needed someone to help him.

“Damn it” He cursed his faith. And then he realized that maybe Berwald was about to face the same thing and he couldn’t do anything about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

Tino and Berwald were leaving their camp. For some odd reason, Berwald realized that Tino was uncomfortable. Or maybe nervous. There was something that was bothering Tino.

“Are you okay, Tino?” Berwald didn’t move from his place. He wanted an answer from his partner.

The dragon realized that he wasn’t doing a good job at dissimulating. He was really concerned about how Berwald was going to react when he found the truth.

“Of course” Tino giggled to hide his true emotions.

But Berwald wasn’t convinced at all. He sat down on a log and took a deep breath.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked while putting his stuff next to him.

“But there’s nothing to talk about! We should keep moving! Sigurd and Magnus are waiting for us!” Tino grabbed Berwald’s hand and tried to move him. He soon realized that he wasn’t strong enough in his human form.

What he was supposed to do? Tino started to panic.

“If I tell you the reason why we are here, are you going to start walking?” Tino requested. He was afraid that Berwald would want to get out of there as soon as he explained him the purpose of that travel.

The explorer nodded. At this point, nothing really could surprise him.

“Promise me” Tino begged him. That’s how desperate the dragon was.

“I promise you” Berwald responded without hesitation “But you aren’t going to use me as a human sacrifice, right?” He questioned.

Tino sincerely laughed about that idea.

“No, of course no. I will never ever harm you” Tino sat down next to Berwald. He took a deep breath.

Berwald thought that Tino was so cute in his own way. It was a stupid thought, because he knew that Tino was an immortal being and he was just a plain human being that could die in any given moment.

“So…” Tino wasn’t sure where to start. So he went for the easy route “So I think you are a dragon. Possibly my former partner” He said like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Berwald raised an eyebrow.

“Tino, it’s too early for jokes” Maybe he was too tired to even understand what Tino meant.

“I’m not joking!” Tino puffed his cheeks “Your tattoo… There’s an inscription there. The reason that you are coming with me is to see if you are him or it’s just a weird coincidence”

Berwald stood up and for a moment, the dragon feared that the explorer would walk away.

“What do you want me to do then?” Berwald didn’t really understand anything. Yet he wanted to make Tino happy since it was so important to him.

Tino touched his chest gently. Maybe his feelings were getting in the way. He looked at his eyes. He truly believe that Berwald was his former partner. He was falling in love again and he was sure it was because he found him. It was so stupid and yet he couldn’t help it.

“I need you to come with me” Tino took a deep breath. He refused to lie to Berwald “If I’m correct, while we are walking, you are going to be in pain and you… You are probably going to have your memories back” It was that moment when Tino realized that he couldn’t ask Berwald to make such sacrifice “I will understand if you don’t want to do it”

“Let’s go then” Berwald didn’t know what to believe but it look like it was really important for the dragon and he trusted him.

“Are you sure?” And now Tino was the one who was insecure about the whole thing.

“Yes. Let’s go” Berwald was interested to see what could happen next.

Tino chose the quicker path to the center of the valley. He wondered if Sigurd and Magnus already made it. He was nervous and excited at the time.

All of the sudden, he heard a noise and he turned around. Berwald was in the ground, he had just fallen. Tino ran and tried to help him.

“What happened?” Tino was concerned. Maybe he was going too fast.

“I don’t know” Berwald shook his head. He felt so confused in that moment and his back was burning like if it was on flames.

Tino left everything that he had on the side and helped Berwald to stand up. He took his shirt because the explorer thought he was literally burning.

“It’s so hot” Berwald complained while throwing his clothing.

Tino didn’t responded.

“We’ll reach the center soon. Let’s go slowly” Tino suggested.

But Berwald wasn’t listening at all. He was completely lost in his mind during that moment.

_I will free you. I don’t care about anything anymore. You are supposed to be with me!_

Berwald looked around. Did Tino said something? Because it sounded like him and yet it was like that the voice came from far away. He was also sweating a lot for some reason even though summer was still to come.

“Did you said something?” Berwald asked.

“No” Tino was confused “I didn’t”

_Two big golden wings, which competed with the sun itself for the bright, tried to break through the cage. But the damn cage was made with an unknown material that couldn’t be broken that easily._

_“You are going to bring devastation to this lands”_

Berwald pronounced those words and Tino was so astonished that he couldn’t continue walking for a while. It was impossible for him to say that sentence because he never told him the story in the first place. The dragon was about to burst into tears but then he remembered his mission. They couldn’t waste any more time.

“Just a little bit more, Ber. We’ll get there and you are going to feel better” Tino tried to make Berwald feel better but it was obvious that the explorer wasn’t really listening to him.

_Calm. He needed to be calm. He looked up and there he was. A small sky blue dragon flying in circles. He was worried about him. He knew him too well to see that he was about to do something quite stupid._

_“Don’t do it! I will be back! I will be back! Just stay away”_

_Talking was so hard. The flames were already touching him. He could hear the noise that the red dragon was making. He roared. If he had to die, at least he would try to do it on a way that would stay in the memory of everyone who were there._

Tino was worried that Berwald wouldn’t make it. But he finally managed to get to the center of the valley. He took a glance. Sigurd was sitting next to the only egg that was still remaining. The dragon was pleased. The egg was about the same color that his former partner had. He was relief.

He put Berwald next to the nest. Before taking the egg, he went to talk to Sigurd.

“Where’s Magnus?” Tino couldn’t even feel the smell of said explorer around.

“He doesn’t want to do anything with it” Sigurd was playing with the small red dragon that was in his hand.

“You have to find him, Sigurd!” Tino knew what would happen to the baby dragon if he wasn’t reunited with his other half.

Sigurd nodded. He didn’t have the energy to do something about it. Magnus crushed all his dreams. He wasn’t sure if it was worth it anymore.

“I think you should go and pay attention to Berwald” Sigurd pointed to where the explorer was laying down.

Tino grabbed the golden egg and put next to Berwald. A tiny dragon hatched and Tino smiled. He recognized it, it was the reincarnation of his former partner. He was so excited. He came back as he promised him.

The small dragon sat on Berwald’s chest before merging with him.

But Tino didn’t expect the outcome at all.

Berwald woke up but his eyes took a bright coloration. He stood up and two huge wings appeared from his back.

“Berwald?” Tino approached him but the wind made him to fall into the ground.

Sigurd had to hide as well. He took the red dragon on his should and the silver egg with him. Something was clearly wrong with Berwald.

“Tino, you have to come with me!” Sigurd shouted.

“I can’t leave him!” Tino was shocked. He tried again and he walked towards Berwald, but he was pushed once again to the ground.

The dragon thought in transforming himself but he was worried that he could harm Berwald.

“Berwald, listen to me, please!” Tino begged. He was so confused. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

But Berwald was slowly converting to a dragon. He turned around and he ran until he was able to lift from the ground.

Tino was in shock. He went to where Sigurd was hiding. He was trying to comprehend what he had done wrong.

Sigurd took his hand. He knew exactly how Tino was feeling in that moment.

“This was a complete failure, wasn’t it?” Tino didn’t stop looking at the sky. He didn’t know what to do. What if Berwald hurt himself?

“I…” Sigurd tried to say something that could comfort him but he had the same opinion.

Meanwhile, Magnus was trying to figure out how to get back at the field where they came from. He was really struggling. His body was burning and he kept hearing the calling of the small red dragon that was with Sigurd.

All of the sudden the wind made him fall onto the ground. He looked up and couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Berwald?”

And he knew that there was something wrong about it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading it!


	13. Chapter 13

Tino was completely astonished about what just happened. He knew he had to do something about it but what? He was afraid he could hurt him. He kept looking at sky, for a sign of Berwald. 

He stood up. He couldn’t let his partner to go away that easily. But when he was preparing to transform himself, a big golden dragon appeared on the sky. Tino stared at him for awhile. 

“I have no chance” Tino said to himself. 

The dragon was at least twice of his size and it was more powerful than he ever was. 

“He has fully transform, Sigurd” Tino tried to seek for a solution but his mind was completely blank.

The other dragon nodded. 

“We could take him down. But I can’t leave this little guy alone” Sigurd was afraid that the small red dragon could get lost in the forest. 

“But Berwald is going to harm himself!” Tino was getting desperate. Maybe it was because he found the whole situation really stressful and reminded him of the last time that he couldn’t save his partner. What if something like that could happen again?

“I know. But unless Magnus shows up, I can’t leave this creature alone. Do you remember when you were this little?” Sigurd opened his palm and the tiny dragon was sleeping on it.

Tino could barely remember when he was so little. Yet he realized that Sigurd was right. The creature was too small to leave it unattended. 

“I think Berwald will get tired and he will come back in that moment” Sigurd replied. He wasn’t quite sure about it, but he saw the need to calm Tino down “It’s just a matter of time”

Tino shook his head. He was going to try it anyways. 

“I’ll talk to him. Maybe he remembers me” Tino took off his clothing and ran until he was able to transform himself. 

Sigurd tried to grab him but Tino ran way too fast. He had a bad feeling about it. 

“Magnus, come back please” Sigurd begged. He was also afraid that the red dragon wouldn’t make it for a long time. If the creature died, then he will have to wait for another reincarnation. Dragon eggs didn’t appear that easily and it was almost a miracle that they had found three of them. 

Sigurd looked at the silver egg. It was obvious that it wasn’t its time yet. Sigurd was also getting quite stressed but unlike Tino, he couldn’t move. He was completely freezed by the whole situation. How things could have turn so bad? His only hope wasn’t showing up and there was a huge probability that he had just walked away from them.

Meanwhile, Tino was making an effort to gain Berwald’s attention.

“Please, listen to me! Come on, now!” He shouted while he was approaching to the golden dragon.

But Berwald kept flying away from him. 

“Come back, please! Are you mad at me?! Please, I’ll make up to you!” Tino was getting desperate. 

Berwald refused to communicate for some reason. But Tino told himself that he would follow him until the end of the world if it was necessary He wasn’t to give up that easily.

“I love you! Don’t you remember how we used to watch the sunsets together? How we used to play with our treasures? How you used to give me all the sapphires because they were my favorite gems?” Tino asked him. He was flying as fast as he could, but Berwald was a little bit faster than him, so it was hard to reach him.

The golden dragon stopped all of the sudden. There was such a mixed memories in his mind that he couldn’t even think straight. He recognized Tino’s voice, but it was like his body wasn’t responding him.

“Don’t you remember me? You have protected me for everyone that had tried to kill me. I need you back at my side” Tino begged. 

Berwald was so confused. There was something that was getting angry and for that reason he couldn’t listen to what Tino was saying. He opened his wings widely and Tino knew he was in trouble.

“No! I’m not here to fight! Berwald, I love you! I love you, damn it! Listen to me!” Tino moved to a place where Berwald couldn’t reach him. Why he was so angry at him? He couldn’t understand. 

Sigurd decided to look up at the sky in that moment and he was terrified when he saw that blast of fire. What the hell was happening? Was Tino okay? Did he manage to escape on time?

“Calm down!” Tino flew in the right moment and the fire didn’t touch him “Come back and I’ll explain everything that you need to know. Just come back to me, please” Tino repeated it several times. 

Berwald was trying to clear his mind. Everything was too much for him to deal with. He needed some alone time.  

Tino thought it was the moment to get near to him again. He had to take the risk.

“I’ll support whatever you want to do. Wanna go out from here?” Tino was getting tired. 

“I need… to be alone” Berwald said before turning around. 

Tino felt almost like his heart was breaking into small pieces. Anything but that. He couldn’t leave him. Not right now. 

“Why?!” Tino shouted, looking for a reason “Why?!” He demanded an explanation.

But Berwald decided to continue his way.

 

Meanwhile, Sigurd was trying to motivate the small red dragon. 

“Come on. You need to move” He asked the creature. 

All of the sudden, Magnus appeared. He was exhausted but he was finally there. 

Sigurd got out from his place when he heard that noise. He was so relieved when he saw that Magnus returned. 

“Magnus, are you okay?” Sigurd approached him and helped him walk to the nearest tree. 

The explorer smiled to the dragon. He still didn’t know what he was supposed to do now. Yet he realized that Sigurd was more comfortable with him at his side. 

“Well, I’m really thirsty and hungry. And my skin feels like I’m in a damn volcano. But other than that, I’m fine” Magnus explained, trying to humour things up. 

“I’m sorry. I should have told you about this from the beginning” Sigurd was truly sorry about it “I thought that… That you wouldn’t come with us, if I told the truth” He explained. 

They both remained in silence for a while. Magnus was trying to comprehend those words. 

“Does it hurt?” He asked after a while. He looked up the sky but he could only see Tino. He wondered if he was okay.

Sigurd shrugged.

“I don’t know. But you need to do this, Magnus. You’ll recover every single memory. You promised me that you were going to come back” Sigurd knew that Magnus didn’t remember it, but he still appealed to his last words.

But in that moment, Tino descended. He was about to burst into tears. He was devastated. 

“He is not coming back. I don’t know what I did, but he doesn’t want me… I’m such a failure” Tino was a completely wrecked. That wasn’t supposed to happen. He thought that Berwald actually loved him back. 

Magnus raised an eyebrow. That didn’t sound like his best friend. He would never abandon someone like that. Sure, he tried to got him eaten by a dragon, but still. 

“I’ll do it” Magnus said all of the sudden. 

“What?” Tino was barely listening. He just wanted to die in that moment. He waited for centuries for that moment, only to be rejected like that.

“I’ll make him rethink about his decision. To be fair, this is something that he wouldn’t do” Magnus stood up and then he looked at Sigurd “Give me the dragon” 

Sigurd was in shock. After what happened to Berwald, was that a good idea? He was having second thoughts. Sure, the creature could die and he would have to wait again for the egg to show up. But he was afraid to lose Magnus.

“Is this what you want?” Sigurd needed to be sure. 

“Do I have another option? But you have to promise me that if I do something stupid and dangerous, you will kill me without hesitation” Magnus still had his doubts. But he felt like he needed to do it. The small dragon was still calling him. 

Sigurd hesitated.

“I’m not sure—”

“You have to do it, Sigurd. Promise me that” Magnus insisted. 

After a couple of minutes in silence, Sigurd nodded.

“I’ll do it. Take him” He raised his arm and the small red dragon flew towards Magnus.

Tino and Sigurd stared at each other for a while, wondering if it was the right decision.

 

But what they were ignoring was the fact that someone else was watching them carefully. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading it!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed some tags. I'm so sorry for not doing correctly.

Sigurd watched carefully what happened next. The red dragon entered Magnus’ body without hesitation. Tino grabbed him by the arm, because it was obvious that Magnus wasn’t going to have enough space to completely transform.

 

All of the sudden, two red wing appeared in Magnus’ back and his eyes were completely blue. In matter of minutes, any trace of Magnus’ humanity dissapeared and an enormous red dragon had taken his place. 

 

“Are you still there?” Sigurd asked, afraid of the answer. He could feel how bad Tino was shaking and he couldn’t blame him. 

 

The beast shook his head and then roared. The sound could have been heard from miles in the distance. He opened his wings a couple of times. Magnus was struggling to regain in control. It was like his body didn’t want to obey him at all.

 

Sigurd approached him, even though he knew the risk. Maybe with the help of Tino, they could try to tame him but when he turned around, his friend had completely broken down in his knees. That didn’t stop Sigurd though.

 

“Magnus, listen to me. Nobody wants to hurt you. Do you remember the promise that you made to me?” Sigurd knew that somewhere inside that huge creature, his partner was hiding. He needed to bring those memories to the surface.

 

“Sigurd?” The dragon kept moving his head, like something was bothering him. 

 

“Yes. I’m Sigurd. You need to listen to me very carefully, okay?” Sigurd showed his hands so Magnus could see that he did not intend to hurt him in any way “You need to go and look for Berwald” He requested.

 

Tino had hidden somewhere, he couldn’t even look at the couple. Why Berwald rejected him like that? He thought that he genuinely cared about him from the start. Tino put one of his hands over his chest, he felt that his heart was bleeding from the pain. 

 

Magnus looked at Tino from there. Then he put his eyes on Sigurd. The memories were like a cyclone on his mind. All of his memories as a human were mixing with those that belong to the dragon. All of the sudden, he felt someone touching him. Sigurd put one of his hands over his scales. 

 

“Please, come back. We need you” Sigurd dropped tears over Magnus’ scales. He wasn’t sure if he could survive a rejection, like Tino. He had to take a risk “I need you. Please” 

 

Magnus opened his eyes and shook his head. Then he remembered what they were talking about. He saw Sigurd begging for him to come back.

 

“Hey, no crying when I’m around” Magnus requested before putting one of his paws in Sigurd’s head. He had to be very careful, since he could probably slice him in two by accident.

 

Sigurd couldn’t be happier in that moment.  Though he felt guilty considering what happened to Tino. 

 

“Do you recognize me?” Sigurd asked, astonished. 

 

“Of course, I do!” Magnus nodded with enthusiasm. He couldn’t believe how large was his body but he thought that he could get used to. That was way better than any treasure that he could ever find.

 

Sigurd stared at Magnus for a very long time. He just couldn’t believe that his waiting had finally reached its ending. He shook his head. There was no time to talk in that moment. 

 

“Can you go and look for your friend? Berwald just went missing” Sigurd didn’t want to leave Tino all alone. And Magnus was way more fit to that job, since he knew Berwald better. 

 

“Count on me!” Magnus struggled to walk in that body. It was so heavy. He moved his wings and after a couple of minutes, he was able to fly. He didn’t know where to start, but he was confident that he would find Berwald in a moment. 

 

Sigurd couldn’t be more proud of his partner. Sadly, that meant that he wasn’t paying attention to where he was standing or where he was walking. He took the wrong step and a trap was set up. All of the sudden, he fall into a hole in the ground.

 

“What the heck?” Sigurd was completely taken by surprise. 

 

He tried to jump but a small bomb was dropped into the whole and before he could knew it, he completely fall asleep. 

 

Tino, on the other hand, was too distracted with his pain to even notice that Sigurd wasn’t there. He just smelled something weird before he fell on the ground. 

 

A couple of men just appeared from the brushes. Their faces couldn’t be seeing, since they were all wearing masks and a black cape. Carefully, they moved Sigurd and Tino from where they were. They knew that they had to do it quickly, since they were two huge dragons on the lease. 

 

“Fast, idiots. Do it faster!” A voice complained. He couldn’t believe his luck. He was waiting for revenge. He couldn’t believe how easy was to capture them “Faster!” 

 

Though he had to cast a spell to the yellow dragon, because he knew that the creature wouldn’t leave on its own. Hopefully the confusion on the animal could last enough, so he could kill both dragons without any problems.

 

Meanwhile, Berwald had to stop on a hill. He wasn’t sure what he was doing. He knew that he had an argument with Tino, but why? That wasn’t something like he would do. Yet he remembered the face of disappointment on his partner. He couldn’t understand. He had never ever snapped at anyone. Tino only made him happy. 

 

He transformed and looked for something that could cover him up. He then sat on the grass. What he was supposed to next? He was sure that Tino would never forgive him for what he had done. 

 

He could even hear how bad Tino was crying. It was all of his fault. Though all of the sudden it stopped. He wondered why. He had such a connection with him, that he could easily tell what Tino was feeling inside his heart. But it just went silent. 

 

He took a deep breath. He needed a break. He wasn’t used to that body. How many centuries had passed since his first death? He could still remember the heat of the fire burning his scales. But what he could never forget was the sadness of Tino. Those roars were stuck with him until the last moment.

 

All of the sudden, he saw another dragon. Berwald didn’t have any doubt about that particular creature. He knew it was Magnus and that he was looking for him. Berwald hesitated, he could hide so his friend could keep searching. After all, he was quite embarrassed about his behaviour. 

 

He stood up and a very strong wind almost knocked him on the ground. When he recovered, Magnus was sitting really next to him.

 

“This is uncomfortable” Berwald stated for the obvious reasons.

 

“Dude, I feel the same. But you disappeared and I had to come and rescue you” Magnus replied with certain pride. 

 

“That wasn’t needed” Berwald tried to keep some distance between the two of them. 

 

“Yes. Tino needs you, dumbass” Magnus replied like it was the most obvious thing “What happened though? It’s not something like you would do. You are sometimes an asshole to me, but you adore Tino!” He explained. 

 

Berwald couldn’t find the right words. Something hit him and then he was so confused. Something just made him feel so enraged that he felt the urge of just flying away from his beloved Tino.

 

“I bet he hates me” Berwald replied. He was a coward, or at least, he felt like one. Why he would such a thing to a beloved one? Tino was everything that he had ever wanted and yet he failed him.

 

“Come on, Ber. Let’s go. You two need to talk. He is a weirdo but he doesn’t hate you” Magnus stretched a little bit, just to annoy Berwald more.

 

Even though Magnus was accomplishing his goal of messing up with him, Berwald had to agree with him. He had to talk to Tino as soon as possible. 

 

“Can you turn around?” Berwald requested. 

 

“Why?” Magnus was still doing some streching. 

 

“Because I’m naked and this is really uncomfortable” Berwald replied. He rolled his eyes, he thought it was quite obvious. 

 

“Oh” Magnus laughed it off  and then he shrugged “Whatever”

 

When they were flying to the place where Sigurd and Tino were supposed to be, Berwald couldn’t stop thinking in his apology. Would that explanation be enough? He really couldn’t understand that sudden rage that caught him off guard. He truly loved him, he had always loved him. 

 

When they finally arrived, there was no one around. There were some clothing around but that was it. The silver egg was near Sigurd’s backpack. But there was no trace of Sigurd and Tino.

 

“Where did they go?” Berwald couldn’t even feel Tino’s emotions.

 

“Sigurd was right here! He… We’ve been talking before I went to look for you!” Magnus tried to smell the place, since now his senses were more sharp but nothing. 

 

“They wouldn’t abandon us, right?” Berwald was so afraid of that. He wouldn’t blame Tino for doing it, but he wanted a chance to talk to him and maybe getting their relationship right on track.

 

“Of course not!” Magnus hadn’t thought about it until Berwald suggested it. 

 

The two explorers were completely clueless. What happened to Tino and Sigurd?

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading it!


	15. Chapter 15

Both men stared at each other. What were they supposed to do? There were no signs of Sigurd or Tino. The only thing that was left was the silver egg, which Magnus promptly grabbed.

“Sigurd! Sigurd!” Magnus called him several times, but there was no response.

Berwald just looked pretty much everywhere on that valley, but there wasn’t anything that could indicate where Tino could have possible gone. He chose to believe that Tino didn’t left on his own. That conclusion led to the only option: They were kidnapped. However, who could possibly do that?

 

Far away, Sigurd and Tino began to wake up. At first, they were clearly confused, since they couldn’t understand why they were moving. Sigurd took a glance and all of his doubts were cleared in that instant. He recognized the man that was walking behind them.

“You… You survived” Sigurd said. He felt that the anger was starting to building up inside him. He was the responsible for the death of his partner.

“Well, I know a couple of tricks. I took me some time, though” The wizard explained “It’s quite hard to recover from burns caused by dragons” The man smiled “But I’m here, again”

Tino tried to open his wings, but he was so tired because of the transformations. He needed time to become his true self again. However, he wasn’t going to make things easy to that man.

“I’ll kill you!!! I’ll freaking kill you!” Tino promised him. He was going to make him pay for all of sufferings.

“Good luck with that” The wizard replied before laughing like a maniac.

Atfer two or three hours of walking, the men left each dragon on a cage. They immediately closed it and waited for more instructions. Yet it seemed like the wizard didn’t intend to harm them. Not yet.

Both dragons recognized their cages. They were almost the same like the ones where the wizard locked up Magnus and Berwald. Sigurd realized what was going to happen next. He ran to the limits of his cages, where he could be heard by Tino.

“Do not transform, Tino!” Sigurd begged him.

However, Tino was too caught in by his own anger. Centuries of being completely alone in that cage, made him build a lot of rage on the inside. Now, he had the chance to revenge Berwald, even though he had returned to his side. Yet there was no way that the fire inside could be put down.

“Sigurd, you know damn well what’s going to happen” Tino replied. He was completely blind from his thirst of revenge.

Sigurd understood. He sat on his cage and tried to think on something else. There had to be a way to get of there. He had to help Magnus and Berwald to locate them. There was no time to waste. He closed his eyes and tried to connect to Magnus. He wasn’t sure if it was going to work, considering that Magnus just accepted his other side. Nevertheless, it was their only hope.

 

 

Mean while, Magnus and Berwald were trying to figure out where to start their search.

“Maybe they went to look for something to eat” Magnus stated, though he highly doubt it.

“This is my fault, isn’t it?” Berwald asked. If Magnus didn’t chase him, then Sigurd and Tino wouldn’t have disappeared.

Magnus put a hand over his shoulder and smiled.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I ran away like a coward” Magnus explained “It’s not like we saw this coming, right?”

Berwald nodded. He would had never believed anyone, if they told him that he was the reincarnation of a dragon. Yet it explained perfectly why he felt so comfortable around Tino, almost as if they knew each other for centuries.

“We need to find them soon” Berwald was determined to save Tino. He didn’t want to lose him again.

Suddenly, Magnus heard a voice calling him. He turned around, but he couldn’t tell where the voice came from. He closed his eyes, so he could trace it better. After a while, he realized it was Sigurd.

_“Please, listen to me.  If you two want to safe us, you need to do the following”_ The voice explained, frightenly calm.

Berwald, on the other hand, could feel how anger Tino was. He was worried that his partner would do something dangerous. He tried to focus and the image of Tino inside of the cage came to his mind. His heart shrank when he realized that he was putting a fight that he couldn’t win at all.

He turned around and just nodded at Magnus. There was no need to exchange words between them. They knew what they had to do.

 

Sigurd sat on his cage, wondering if Magnus and Berwald would find them on time. It was apparent to him that the wizard wasn’t going to wait for them to show up. Unless… Sigurd got up immediately. They weren’t the true victims at all. They were only bait.

“Damn it, no! Not again!” Sigurd shook his head several times and almost hit himself with the bars.

Tino sat down on the cage, contemplating the sky. He was so exhausted that he began to cry. All these years… For what? He couldn’t let that happen again. Yet he felt defeated. Was he ever going to be happy with Berwald again?

The night had already fallen. Tino took a deep breath. He was desperate to see Berwald again. However, he didn’t have enough power to get away from there. He looked at the sky once again and he thought that he had seen two small figures. Tino cleaned his eyes but the figures had already disappeared.

“No, please don’t” His best friend said all of the sudden.

Tino was in shock. He ran to the limits of his cage, to talk to him.

“What do you mean by that? They are going to rescue us!” Tino said, trying to comfort him. Nonetheless, there was something weird about Sigurd. He was hiding something from him and for some reason; he couldn’t say it out loud.

“Tino, haven’t you figured it out yet?” Sigurd asked him.

Tino raised an eyebrow. He could see the wizard and the men moving around the place. It was clear that they were up to something. He looked at Sigurd again, hoping to find an answer. But he couldn’t understand.

“I’m too tired” Tino complained. Even though he was quite sure that Berwald was near them, he felt unsafe. He had a bad feeling about the whole thing.

Sigurd just stared at the sky, wishing he hadn’t seen them. He closed his eyes. Maybe if he felt asleep, everything would just go away. For the first time in ages, he actually felt the need to cuddle with Magnus.

However, one question remained in his mind: Why did everything have to turn like this?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading it! The fic is reaching its final chapters!


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